Riverside, CA—The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team (6-14, 3-3) remained within striking distance the entire night against CSUN (10-9, 3-2) on Saturday night, but fell just short in a 60-55 defeat. Senior Lauren Holt led all Highlanders with 17 points.

KEY RUNS
The Highlanders got out to a cold start, shooting just 23.5% (4-17 FG) in the first quarter, but would turn things around in the second. Trailing 21-11, UCR went on a 12-2 run to tie things up at 23-23 with 3:39 to go in the half.

A pair of Michelle Curry free throws gave the Highlanders a slim 32-31 lead to open the second half. Things would remain close from there, as CSUN retook the lead and would go up by as many as 8 points in the third.

With under a minute to go, UCR would cut the deficit to 57-55 after Curry split a pair of free throws. However, a Matador bucket with 19 seconds remaining pushed the lead back up to 4, and the Highlanders would be held without a field goal for the final 3:14 of the game.

GAME NOTES
Redshirt sophomore forward Skyler Lewis notched her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists.

It was an off shooting night for Curry (12 points, 2-12 FG), but she made up for it with her ability to convert at the charity stripe, going 8-for-10 (.800) on free throws. Now with 1,149 career points, she moves past Brittany Waddell (1,138, 2006-11) for No. 12 on the UCR all-time scoring list.

The Highlanders finished 11-of-17 (.647) at the line as a team, while CSUN was just 3-of-10 (.300).

Applying full-court defense throughout much of the second half, the Highlanders would win the turnover battle, committing a conference-season low 10 to CSUN's 15. However, the Matadors were more efficient in capitalizing on the visitors' mistakes, ending up with a 15-13 advantage in points off turnovers.

UC Riverside continued to struggle with its outside shot, connecting on just 2-of-17 (.118) from beyond the arc. The Matadors ended the day 9-of-26 (.346) from deep, led by junior Claudia Ramos (6-9 3FG).

Lauren Holt (17 points, 7-17 FG) was the only Highlander to connect on a triple, finishing 2-of-9 (.222) on threes. She has now scored in double-figures in 13 consecutive games. Holt also has at least two three-pointers in three straight outings.

Sophomore Marina Ewodo finished with 7 points and 10 rebounds, marking the third time this season she's reached double-digits on the glass.

UCR returns home for its next game against UC Irvine on Thursday, Jan. 25.